Inside Politics: Jennings keeping some thoughts to himself

Updated 9:49 am, Friday, August 3, 2012

The relationship between Mayor Jerry Jennings and Albany County District Attorney David Soares appeared, from a distance, to have thawed recently. And by thawed, we mean marked by a lack of public sniping.

And while no one expects to see two of the county's most influential Democrats sharing a table at Martel's anytime soon, the pair — at odds since the night Soares won his first primary eight years ago — seemed to have at least stowed any open hostilities.

Then this week Laborers Local 190, a union to which Jennings has historically had deep ties and influence and which backed Soares in the past, very publicly endorsed the prosecutor's primary opponent, Lee Kindlon

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It's an intriguing development for what it might or might not suggest about where Jennings really stands in the race.

While other prominent Democrats who have opposed Soares in the past — most notably county Democratic Party Chairman Matthew Clyne — have been forced by Soares' status as the party's incumbent to publicly fall in line behind him, Jennings has been noticeably absent.

Noticeably absent, that is, in a year in which the mayor has publicly supported the re-election of another one of his longtime rivals, state Sen. Neil Breslin, and the Assembly bid of Frank Commisso Jr., a councilman with whom he's often quarreled.

Soares' refusal to prosecute Occupy Albany protesters last year, however, undercut any would-be effort by the city to evict the occupiers —said to be Jennings' first impulse — and thrust Jennings into an awkward position with his powerful and longtime friend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who wanted the protesters out.

A quick review of the state's campaign finance database also reveals that Soares' re-election campaign hasn't benefited, even marginally, from the largesse of the mayor's Capital City Committee, through which Jennings doles out charitable contributions and cuts checks to candidates he's supporting.

While those close to Soares are not convinced the mayor's fingerprints are on the Local 190 defection, they're also not holding their breath for any sort of public show of support from Jennings before the Sept. 13 primary.

Kindlon's camp, meanwhile, doesn't seem to expect one either.

As much as Jennings might want to see someone else occupy the DA's office, so to speak, publicly opposing the party's endorsed candidate would be perhaps a needlessly antagonistic move.

Jennings himself will need to call on some of the same party faithful to support him next year should he decide to seek a sixth term. Not to mention that any public aggression against Soares might only serve to further stoke the interest of the DA's loyal backers — who famously chanted "you're next" at Jennings' image on a television screen the night of Soares' 2004 upset victory over incumbent Paul Clyne — in Albany's next mayoral race.

Steck, an Albany County legislator from Loudonville, will be followed on the Democratic line, in order, by Niskayuna Supervisor Joseph Landry, fellow County Legislator Tim Nichols and Assembly aide Kevin Frazier

On the Independence Party line, Steck will be first, followed by Republican Jennifer Whalen Frazier and then Landry will then follow. Nichols is not a candidate in that primary.

Labor unions are splitting their support for candidates in the 44th Senate District.

Last week, the state AFL-CIO endorsed incumbent Democratic Sen. Neil Breslin, but Thursday morning, Democratic challenger Shawn Morse announced his own stock of union backing.

Council 82, which represents more than 5,000 correction officers and police in the state, endorsed the county legislator at a sweltering press conference in Troy's Riverfront Park.

The state Professional Firefighters Union and unions representing firefighters from Cohoes, Watervliet, Albany, Troy, Rensselaer and Green Island also backed Morse, a Cohoes firefighter and former union president.

About three dozen union members stood behind Morse and held signs under the baking sun by the Hudson River as he spoke about helping the less fortunate and enacting change at the state level.

"Failure to protect our environment leads to unnecessary and costly government expenses and could potentially jeopardize the health of the New Yorkers," Breslin said in a statement. "I am grateful to have the environmental community behind me in by bid for re-election."